Banks' forex lawsuit settlements near $2 billion: WSJ

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

(Reuters) - The total amount paid by banks to settle a civil lawsuit related to allegations that traders manipulated the currency market has reached almost $2 billion following a recent round of settlement agreements, the Wall Street Journal reported.

View of the HSBC headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, June 10, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Investors including the city of Philadelphia, hedge funds and public pension funds accused the 12 banks of having conspired since January 2003 in chat rooms, instant messages and emails to manipulate the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates.

According to the lawsuit, the banks held an 84 percent global market share in currency trading, and were counterparties in 98 percent of U.S. spot volume.

HSBC and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Barclays and BNP Paribas could not be immediately reached for comment.

Reporting by Neha Dimri in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty